Lack Of Sleep Linked To Premature Death

Jun 23, 2010 17:54

British researchers just released a new study confirming what has long been thought to be true: sleeping less or more than 6 to 8 hours is associated with premature death. Below is a summary on the study's findings:

Sleeping less than 6 hours a night was associated to a 12 per cent higher chance of premature death compared to sleeping the recommended six to eight hours.

This finding was based on pooled data from more than 1.3 million participants worldwide.

Some potentially better news: although consistently sleeping 9 or more hours a night was also linked to an increased risk of death, the researchers concluded this was probably for different reasons than not sleeping enough.

So this means that sleeping less-than-necessary may cause ill-health, whereas sleeping more than is biologically necessary is also believed to represent more an indicator of ill-health. For those of you worried about the next time your bedtime looms near, the key is to find the happy medium between the short and long end of the sleep spectrum. Basically, just practice sleeping in moderation.

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